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Sunday, October 22, 2017

Chifilmfest Review: "Charleston" is a different kind of black comedy.

Chicago International Film Festival Review

Charleston

If I asked how one would feel if they lost their
significant other, I don’t think anyone in their right mind could answer that
question. I don’t think there could be any type of words to be found by such a
forbidden question. To add to such a morbid topic, what would you do if you
lost your significant other, then one day your doorbell rings and the lover of
their dead significant other is at your door? “Charleston” is a black comedy
and drama film, telling the story of how a widower comes face-to-face with his
dead wife’s lover. We meet Alexandru (Serban Pavlu), who recently lost his
wife. When a man named Sebastian (Radu Iacoban) shows up at his home, saying
that he was his dead wife’s lover, Alexandru’s first reaction is to punch
Sebastian in the face. Why would this guy come over? What is Sebastian’s game
plan, his motive, his goal?

Sebastian only wants to talk to Alexandru, to get to
know each other. But Alexandru in his misery, wants nothing to do with him.
This guy had sex with his wife, for crying out loud. Some more punches are
thrown. Then eventually, Alexandru lets his guard down. The two men sit down
together, they share cigarettes, they share drinks, they go to a bar, and they
begin to sit back and listen to each other. Sebastian wants Alexandru to help
him overcome his grief over the loss of his wife. A tall order to ask a husband
who had no clue his wife was running around on him. The thing is, it was
Alexandru’s wife who initiated the affair. Sebastian is a shy, introverted
young man, and it was Alexandru’s wife who got him interested. They had an
affair for five months, and the whole time, Sebastian did not know she was
married.

The movie at its core is about a special kind of
loneliness. Eventually the two men grow to enjoy each other’s company. On the
night Sebastian comes to visit Alexandru, Alexandru is drunk and alone on his forty-second
birthday. As he gets to know Sebastian, we learn that Sebastian lives with his
uncle, his parents are dead, he doesn’t have many friends, and Alexandru’s wife
offered a bond of togetherness that Sebastian desperately needed at the night.
Had he known he had the potential to be a homewrecker, he would have never gone
for it. Alexandru is stern and hard on Sebastian, and that may be more because
of his grief than anything else. But he pretends like everything is okay and
that he doesn’t need anyone. But we are human beings, we need human connection
of some kind just to function. We are social animals, whether its family or
friends or significant others are a little bit of all three, we need people in
our lives. If Alexandru just decides to stay isolated, he will drink himself to
death.

While the film is very funny, it leans carefully but
heavily on the idea of loneliness and how it works as a sickness in the moments
of our greatest despair. But despite that, there are several funny moments in
the film. Whether it’s Alexandru taking Sebastian to a lunch with his dead wife’s
parents. Whether it’s a scene involving Alexandru and Sebastian dancing to one
of the dead wife’s favorite songs. Whether a scene where the two men go and try
to buy more food and wine, only to end up stealing it because they are out of
money. There are several moments of hilarity in the film, moments that will
grant you an honest chuckle. There is a good balance between the funny and the
dramatic, and the film features one of the most apocalyptic stand-offs between
two characters, as these two broken men begin to discuss why Sebastain came to
Alexandru in the first place. It’s surprisingly profound how much these
characters tackle over the course of this movie.

The film is rich in performance. There lots of fun
music moments. The script is tight and full of fun in nearly every corner. But
it has something very honest and heartfelt at its center. I was shocked by just
how much the film affected me.